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The Reserve Fund is used to support Russian public finances in time of low oil and gas prices and is held in dollars, euros and British pounds. Russia's other main sovereign fund, the National Wealth Fund, rose by $900 million in February to $74.92 billion, the ministry said Tuesday, although its value in ruble terms fell. As of February 20, the last date for which data...

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BEIJING— China's manufacturing activity improved in February for the first time in four months but export demand weakened, a survey released Monday showed. HSBC's manufacturing index based on a survey of factory purchasing managers rose to 50.7 from January's 49.7. The HSBC survey, conducted by Markit Economics, found growth in output and total new orders...

*Numbers came out right after China c.bank cut rates. SHANGHAI, March 1- Hours after China's central bank cut interest rates to battle slowing growth and rising deflationary risk, an official survey showed on Sunday that activity in China's factory sector contracted for a second straight month in February. Accounting for 48 percent of China's $10.2 trillion...

BEIJING— An index that measures China's manufacturing activity went up slightly in February but still showed contraction amid China's economy slowdown, according to official data released Sunday. China's economy, the world's second largest, grew 7.4 percent last year, its slowest expansion in nearly a quarter century. China's economy is expected to decline...

BEIJING, March 1- Activity in China's factory sector contracted for a second straight month in February on unsteady exports and slowing investment, an official survey showed on Sunday, reinforcing bets that more policy loosening is needed to lift the economy. Accounting for 48 percent of China's $10.2 trillion economy last year, the services sector has...

BEIJING, Feb 28- China's central bank cut interest rates on Saturday, just days before the annual meeting of the country's parliament, in the latest effort to support the world's second-largest economy as its momentum slows and deflation risks rise. "The focus of the interest rate cut is to keep real interest rate levels suitable for fundamental trends in...

BEIJING, Feb 28- China's central bank said on Saturday it would cut benchmark interest rates by 25 basis points to 5.35 percent, a widely expected move as the world's second largest economy continues to show signs of weakness despite previous easing measures. "The focus of the interest rate cut is to keep real interest rate levels suitable for fundamental trends...

BEIJING— China's central bank cut interest rates for the second time in three months Saturday, adding to signs the country's leaders are worried the economic slowdown is deepening too sharply. The People's Bank of China announced a rate cut on one-year loans by commercial banks by 0.25 percentage point to 5.35 percent. Last year, China's economic growth fell to...

NEW DELHI— India's finance minister announced the government's new budget on Saturday, promising a slew of measures that attempt to balance welfare spending with high economic growth and infrastructure development, while vowing to keep a tight control on the fiscal deficit. "The credibility of India's economy has been re-established," Jaitley told...

NEW DELHI, Feb 28- India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday announced a budget aimed at high growth, saying the pace of cutting the fiscal deficit would slow as he seeks to boost investment and ensure that ordinary people benefit. "India is about to take off," Jaitley, 62, said early in his speech to lawmakers. "The world is predicting that this is India's...

NEW DELHI, Feb 28- India's Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday announced a budget aimed at high growth, saying the pace of cutting the fiscal deficit would slow as he seeks to boost investment and ensure that ordinary people benefit. "The world is predicting that this is India's chance to fly." Reaping the benefits of low global prices for oil, India's main...

SAO PAULO, Feb 27- Striking truckers lifted their blockade of dozens of highways in Brazil on Friday after police began fining and arresting protesters who have slowed grain deliveries in the commodities powerhouse. But silos at Paranagua, Brazil's second-largest port for soy exports, now have enough soybeans to keep filling ships until March 3, rather than...

February proved to be a strong month for U.S. stocks, even though it ended in downbeat fashion. It also brought the Nasdaq composite within striking distance of its March 2000 high. But the S&P 500' s 5.5 percent performance marked its best monthly increase since October 2011, and a turnaround from its 3.1 percent slide in January.

NEW DELHI— A government report says India's economy will grow more than 8 percent in the upcoming financial year and appears to have shaken off its persistent problems of high inflation, rising budget deficits and poor domestic demand. The Economic Survey, an annual report on the state of Asia's third-largest economy, said Friday that India appeared to have hit...

HONG KONG, Feb 27- China's yuan fell to its lowest level against the dollar in more than two years on Friday, raising questions about whether the world's second-largest economy will devalue its currency to avert a sharper economic slowdown. With fears of a global currency war rising, all eyes in Asia are focused on what China will do as it grapples with inflation...

The two biggest economies in Latin America began closed talks last week over the accord signed in 2012, which limits vehicle exports from Mexico to Brazil. The wrangle underlines a widening gap between Mexico, which is aiming to open up its market amidst a car production boom, and Brazil, which is attempting to protect its struggling auto sector.

SHANGHAI, Feb 25- China is dangerously close to slipping into deflation, the central bank's newspaper warned on Wednesday, highlighting increasing nervousness in policymaking circles as a sputtering economy struggles to pick up speed despite a raft of stimulus steps. As a slowdown in China's economy over the past year was accompanied by a chill in global...